An Untimely Name
9. An Untimely Name We traveled through Rookridge, through Old Town where I fought back all my childhood memories of Rose and I, through the bustling Market, and all the way back to Bower Lake. For once there was no rush to get anywhere or beat anybody. However, every day it took me to get back to Bower Lake I realized was another day that Lucien had been defeated. Each morning for the first few days, I would wake up feeling like it had been a dream. By the third or fourth day, I was getting used to things. I was even beginning to cope with the fact that I was going to the Gypsy Camp to stay. I didn't have to leave for anything anymore, and my life was mine to make. The Gypsy Camp was my home now. I sat on the soft, sandy shore of Bower Lake, watching the sun that I had seen set every day for years straight. Had I really spent all my life training for this? To find a man, kill him with the trinket that began my wild journey, and then be miserably alone for the rest of my days, watching the sun set? My head dropped into my hands, but I shed no tears. I had to learn not to feel sorry for myself all over again. But then again, I couldn't quite be happy, either. "Marten, what am I going to do?" If only the dog could answer me. 'That should have been a wish choice.' I laughed dryly in my head at the awful joke I had just made, and then scolded myself for thinking about the wishes. I felt horrible for not choosing the selfless wish... I could have made all of Albion happy, but instead I tried to bring the ones I'' love back... Either way, I should have realized, I was going to be unhappy. I sighed, feeling frustrated. My head ached, and I was tired. It wasn't just an exhausted tired, either. It was a depressed, permanent tired that I was fearing would never leave me. "Might as well go to bed, old friend." Marten yipped, his tail wagging. He seemed far more chipper than I felt. I stroked his head, and then I stood. The dog was now jumping, and I gave him a funny look. "Alright, boy, we're going." The path to the Gypsy Camp seemed familiar, almost welcoming. It didn't seem possible to just be going to the Camp to sleep. I saw the short bridge to the Camp nearing into view. Marten was jumping excitedly. "What's gotten into... You..." My pace slowed as I gazed farther up the hill. Marten dashed towards someone dressed in full cloak and hood standing in the center of the bridge. Their back was to me, and they were watching the sunset, just as I had been only minutes ago. I felt my feet slowly move, suspicious. I froze when the figure moved. A hand reached up and pulled down the hood when they noticed Marten, and my breath caught in my throat when they turned around. Phoebe. All at once I felt every ounce of life in existence flood me. Before I knew what I was doing, I began to sprint up the hill. She was kneeling to pet Marten, and she had barely came to a complete stand when I embraced her. "The wish really worked," I didn't know for a fact if I had just thought the statement or if it had actually came out of my mouth. In all honesty, I didn't care at that moment. For one minute I wanted to be happy, and I was. I wasn't alone, oh God, I wasn't alone. Finally, I released her, mostly. My hands gripped her forearms. "You're here." The words didn't seem real, but I was so glad they were. "How, though? I thought the..." I swallowed, forcing the words out of my now shaky voice. "I thought the wish didn't work..." "It worked," Phoebe nodded, smiling. "I didn't know what was going on at first. But I woke up in a caravan, I had my bag that got lost somewhere around the Shadow Court, which was strange enough. And a letter was waiting for me, in my bag. It said to wait here, because sooner or later, you would be here. Also, it said for me to wait here because there's something that whoever wrote the letter wanted me to give to you." Phoebe gingerly reached into her cloak pocket and removed a small piece of paper. I recognized that paper anywhere. It was a page of Rose's diary. She used to keep a piece on her at all times. "I didn't read it, whatever it is." Phoebe added quickly. I held my breath, let go of Phoebe, and gently took the letter from her hand. I opened it and read aloud very quietly, "Dear Sparrow. I woke up today in such a peculiar place. It's like a great big forest, with lots and lots of trees that go on forever. I was scared at first because I couldn't find you, but there's someone here who says he knows us, knows our family. He told me his name, but I keep forgetting it. Weird. I think he's a king or something. He's thin and wears a hood and looks scary, but he's nice and I feel safe with him here. I hope your okay, Little Sparrow. Somehow I know that it's going to be alright and we'll be together again one day. He promised me. Love, Rose." "Rose... Is your sister," Phoebe mused, eyes growing wide. "That means... She's alive. She's really alive." I don't think words exist for the feeling that overcame me. Nothing felt real; not time, not the letter in my hand, not the ground I stood on nor the air I breathed- My ''sister was alive! Letter still in hand, I jumped in the air, assuming the position and yell of an excited child. I was jittery as I grinned broadly Phoebe. Finally, I said it out loud: "Phoebe... Rose is alive!" Ever since I had watched my sister die, I had never thought I'd be so blessed to say those three words: Rose is alive. "Phoebe, will you help me find her?" Marten barked, half running and half leaping in a circle next to me. Phoebe's smile faded, and it actually put a damper my nearly indestructable happiness. Before I could ask what, she pulled another letter out. This one wasn't Rose's paper, I knew it immediately. "In my letter," She began softly, "I was told that I'd have to travel back home to help you. The only person who knows where my 'home' is, is Theresa. I thought I recognized her voice when we all gathered, but I said nothing." She stared blankly at the paper in her hands. "Only she knew about me being taken away to the Black City." "I knew the Theresa you mentioned had to be the same one I was thinking," Phoebe went on to say. "You mentioned her in your story." She gripped one of my wrists. "When we were on top of those rocks... I didn't even need to see her to know that it was the same girl." "Phoebe, what are you getting at?" I felt her let go of my wrist. "Sparrow... The Black City..." Sounding pained, she half turned away from me, face not visible. "What about it...?" I swallowed as she breathed in deep, and then finally turned her head towards me, though her eyes were still locked on the ground. "Phoebe... What about the Black City?" I spoke slower this time, my voice barely audible. "I was taken to the Black City for rescurrecting something." Phoebe looked up at me, with something I thought I'd never see in her eyes at the same time: Fear, regret, worry. Eyes were like books to me. "When they took me there, they said that I had to stay for twenty years. It was like a prison, only I was free to do what I wanted. I just had to stay there for twenty years... It took about ten for immortality to claim me completely." Phoebe turned back around and took a few steps away. "What you really need to know now, Sparrow, is that the Black City is where the immortal thrive. It's a haunted place, it's a living hell." She didn't even sound like herself. "Your sister is in the Black City, Sparrow... And from the sounds of it... She's with the man who took me there." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "A man named Scythe."